The present invention relates to a vehicle body structure provided with an automatic opening and closing device for a liftback rear cargo door (hereinafter simply referred to as a xe2x80x9crear doorxe2x80x9d).
In recent years, automatic rear doors which are opened or closed by a motor or the like, have become popular in, for example, minivans and wagons.
In most such automatic rear doors, an automatic opening and closing device provided with, for example, a motor or the like is connected to a rear door via an arm or the like, and the rear door is opened or closed by the operation of the arm.
The automatic opening and closing device is preferably provided inside the vehicle and in the vicinity of rear port of the vehicle, and more preferably, in view of the rigidity of the arm, the automatic opening and closing device is provided as rearward as possible so that the movement of the arm and the length of the arm are reduced, so that the arm may be made compact and very rigid, and so that the size of projection due to the opening and closing device into interior space of the vehicle may be minimized.
The arm connects the automatic opening and closing device disposed inside the vehicle to the rear door while penetrating through the body panel. Accordingly, an aperture for the arm is provided in the vicinity of the rear port.
However, a problem is encountered in that the aperture decreases the rigidity of the vehicle body in the vicinity of the rear port where a sufficient rigidity is specifically required.
When normal reinforcing methods, such as increasing thicknesses of elements around the aperture, providing reinforcing patches around the aperture, etc., are employed as countermeasures, problems are encountered in that the weight of the vehicle is increased, and effects of reinforcing may not be sufficient.
In consideration of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle body structure in which an automatic opening and closing device is effectively used as a reinforcing element, and by which decrease in rigidity of the vehicle body due to the aperture is preferably prevented.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicle body structure comprising: a side roof rail, a rear roof rail, and a rear pillar, which are disposed in the rear portion of a vehicle body, and which intersect each other at an intersecting portion; a rear door provided for optionally opening and closing a rear port of the vehicle body; an automatic opening and closing device for the rear door disposed inside the vehicle body and in the vicinity of the intersecting portion; an aperture provided in the intersecting portion; and a connecting element provided through the aperture for connecting the automatic opening and closing device to the rear door, wherein the automatic opening and closing device for the rear door is fixed to at least the side roof rail, the rear roof rail, and the rear pillar so as to pass above the aperture.
According to the above vehicle body structure, the automatic opening and closing device for the rear door can be effectively used as a reinforcing element for the intersecting portion of the frame of the vehicle body.
In addition, it is possible to effectively distribute a reaction force from the rear door, which is applied to the automatic opening and closing device for the rear door, when the rear door is opened or closed, to the frame of the vehicle body.